Beautiful Creatures

by Lulu Taylor

  The three women stared at one other, the two younger ones looking at their mother with stunned expressions. Diane smiled at them, her face expressing love and apology as well as something else – it looked like a silent request to be forgiven. She opened her arms. There was a long moment when no one stirred and then the girls moved together as one, going quietly, almost solemnly, to their mother, who wrapped them both in her embrace. They all stood together like that for a long time.

  The others watched, moved by the scene of reconciliation.

  Then mother and daughters pulled apart, smiling and blinking back tears.

  ‘Now,’ said Max, ‘time for a drink. And then, I don’t know about you but I’m already looking forward to our goose.’

  He put his hand out to Octavia who took it, still wiping away tears, and led her into the house. Nick put his arm around Flora and the two of them followed Max and Octavia inside. Lastly Vicky gave her arm to Diane, and they walked together up the worn old steps into the light and warmth of the welcoming house.

  Epilogue

  Roddy Wildblood sauntered into the magnificent old shop, walking through the double doors and straight into the handbag department. He looked about at the fantastic display of designer bags, with all kinds of luxury labels displayed, from well-known brands to more cutting edge up-and-coming names. He nodded with approval at the imaginative displays. A miniature golden spiral staircase climbing from a counter in the centre of the room had a beautiful bag displayed every few steps. He noted a Noble’s own-brand luxury bag line, with handsome leather pieces lined with Noble’s fabric or blind-stamped with famous patterns.

  As he went through the shop he noticed that the customers included many stylish, well turned out women who clearly knew the best places to shop. He saw them handing over pretty dark green loyalty cards as they did their shopping, selecting delightful silk scarves from a little counter that looked like an ice-cream parlour. He glanced into the jewellery department where a Cartier pop-up store had a lavish display of watches, some with straps lined with Noble’s prints.

  He wandered, admiring everything he saw, negotiating the crowds until he came to the scent department. He looked about him for a while and then went over to one of the counters where a shop girl was doing a careful inventory of her stock, frowning with concentration as she did so. He leant on the counter next to her.

  ‘Hello, I wonder if you could recommend a nice scent?’

  The girl jumped, looked at him and burst out laughing. ‘Roddy! How lovely to see you!’

  ‘Octavia.’ He bent over the counter and gave her a smacking kiss on the cheek. ‘Lovely to see you too. I never thought I’d see you in the role of shop assistant. Aren’t you the owner of this place? I was certainly under that impression when I agreed to let Noble’s become the only stockist of Delphine outside our own boutiques.’

  ‘Of course I’m the owner, but I have a magnificent chief exec in the form of Amanda who’s doing an amazing job.’

  ‘Mmm, she certainly drives a hard bargain. She got my prices down, and she’s got you working down here while she’s in the best office! Unbelievable.’ Roddy grinned at her.

  ‘This was my idea actually,’ Octavia said proudly. ‘I need to learn the business from the ground up, so I decided to start on the shop floor. Now if you’d like to buy a scent, how about this gorgeous one from Trevellyan? They’ve just relaunched some of their historic men’s colognes. This one is Albemarle, and it’s delicious. Guaranteed to drive Didier wild.’

  Roddy turned his eyes up to heaven. ‘Oh, forget Didier. I have. It’s Luca now. And whoever else is available – which is pretty much everyone.’

  Octavia looked at him with concern. ‘Are you okay, Roddy? You do look tired.’

  ‘Ach, I’m fine. Always working, but what would I do without it? Whenever I think about stopping or taking a break, I can hear Iseult telling me not to be so silly, to crack on and get things done while I can.’ He gazed about the room. ‘I can see her touches everywhere here. It’s nice. It’s like this is her memorial.’

  ‘I think about her all the time too,’ Octavia said softly.

  ‘She’d be proud of you,’ he said sincerely. ‘You’re all grown up. And I hear you’re finally with a man who’s worthy of you.’

  ‘Max,’ Octavia said happily. ‘Yes, he is pretty wonderful. He’s helped me as Ethan’s trial gets closer. It’s going to be painful and horrible but I know he’ll be a big support to me.’

  ‘Ah, that’s great, honey.’ Roddy glanced down at his watch. ‘Shit, I can’t stay. Meetings here, there and all over the place. But I wanted to pop in and see you. Maybe come and party with me soon? In Paris perhaps?’

  ‘Of course, darling, sometime soon.’ Octavia gave him a goodbye kiss. ‘You’ll look after yourself, won’t you, Roddy?’

  He smiled at her. ‘Course I will, sweetheart. And you too. Bye, darlin’. Bye.’

  Octavia watched him as he sauntered away, out into the busy London street and off to wherever his meeting was. There was an air of melancholy about him that bothered her. I hope he’ll be all right. I’m sure he’s become even wilder since Iseult died. She couldn’t help thinking that Roddy and Iseult were two of a kind, and wondered what his eventual fate would be. Perhaps he’d escape the sense of hopelessness that had eventually destroyed her. But she feared for him.

  Julie, another shop assistant, came up and said, ‘Octavia, you’re on break. Twenty minutes off.’

  Octavia nodded and put her inventory down. The work was quite tiring and the regimented hours had taken a lot of getting used to, but she was learning a great deal about how the shop worked, how the sales force could be motivated and what targets they needed to achieve. More important than that, the staff had softened in their attitude towards her. They appreciated what she was doing and respected her willingness to get down to some hard work. Once she’d proved that she expected to be treated like anyone else, they’d actually started to like her. Bringing Amanda back had also helped.

  And the store was doing brilliantly now. The revamp had worked very well, and they’d been featured in just about every magazine aimed at fashionable women. The result was that people had come to have a look round, been impressed, and come back. The whole place felt modern, stylish and desirable, but with its magnificent setting still in place, it remained linked to its history. Noble’s had been reborn, under the aegis of a Radcliffe and a Beaufort – unlikely allies but growing stronger every day as they learnt to trust each other.

  Yes, she thought. The future is looking bright even if I have this trial to get through. But once it’s over and Ethan is sentenced, we can start to move on. She thought of Max then and smiled happily.

  ‘Octavia,’ Julie said warningly, ‘you’d better get a move on. You’ve wasted four minutes of your break already.’

  ‘Okay,’ she said cheerfully, heading for the back stairs and the staff room. ‘See you later.’

  ‘Don’t be late back.’

  ‘I won’t. Don’t worry.’

  Flora read the letter through twice. It was over then. Her marriage to Otto was void. It had never happened. He had never owned her. He had returned all but £5 million of the money he’d stolen, and that had all been spent. She had to decide now whether to take criminal proceedings against him.

  She folded the letter and went to the window, staring out as she thought about him. He had lost his power over her the day she’d decided he couldn’t hurt her even if he did his worst. And she’d come through it all, and found this mind-blowing, heart-exploding love with Nick in the process.

  Most miraculously of all, they’d found their mother. Diane had been through her own trial of fire and hadn’t been able to stay strong in the face of the world’s opinion. They’d all paid a high price for that. Now the first tentative steps towards forgiveness had been taken. Diane still lived in her remote French cottage but there were dates in the diary for holidays together, and over Christmas at Max’s, they had star
ted to form a bond and get to know one other. It would be a long time before there would be a natural mother-daughter relationship between them, if ever. But the biggest questions were answered now and Flora felt she could at last begin to move forward into her future.

  The door opened and Vicky came in.

  ‘Nick said there’s been good news. Otto … It’s all over?’

  Flora nodded happily, smiling at her cousin. ‘Yes, all over. Nick’s coming soon to celebrate.’

  Vicky came over and hugged her. ‘I’m so pleased. I wish you’d never laid eyes on him.’

  Flora gazed at her cousin, her blue eyes candid. ‘I’m not so sure. Sometimes it’s the troubles in our lives that lead us to happiness. I’d never have fallen in love with Nick if I hadn’t married Otto.’

  ‘Maybe not,’ Vicky said. She laughed. ‘And he’s a very good thing, isn’t he?’

  ‘The best,’ Flora said with a happy smile.

  ‘I brought you this,’ her cousin said. She held up the marriage certificate that had Otto and Flora’s names on it. ‘And this.’ She held out a box of matches. ‘It seemed appropriate somehow.’

  Flora laughed. They took the certificate to the grate and Flora held it up while Vicky struck a match and set light to one corner. The flames quickly licked up the paper, consuming it in seconds. Flora held it as long as she could, then dropped it into the grate where it melted into soft grey ashes.

  ‘Goodbye, Otto,’ she murmured, staring at the remnants.

  ‘Come on,’ Vicky said, ‘Molly’s just made tea. Let’s go and get some.’

  Acknowledgements

  Huge thanks to everyone who helps me write my novels.

  To James, who is endlessly supportive, and ensures I have the time and space to work. To Barney and Tabby, who make me laugh and love so much.

  To the indefatigable Lizzy and Laura at David Higham Associates. Lizzy is the dream agent; lovely to me, terrifying to everyone else, and with fiendishly good ideas. Laura is always on hand to provide a sympathetic ear and amazingly speedy help.

  To my family and friends, who are always prepared to step in at deadline moments to help out, and tireless at spreading the word.

  To the people who helped with my research: Colin Bodill, record-breaking pilot, who took me on my first helicopter flight and explained all I needed to know; the Murray family for their generous hospitality; Jane Mackenzie for her friendship and enthusiasm.

  To Paul Laikin, for a very helpful first draft read-through, and to Lynn Curtis for her splendid copyediting.

  To the wonderful team at Random House: Gillian, my editor, who’s given so much time, suggested so many excellent ideas and boosted morale wonderfully well; Kate, my publisher; Amelia, my publicist, and all the fantastic people in sales and marketing; plus the unsung heroine Helen in production, without whom the book wouldn’t ever be printed.

  And I would like to acknowledge the talents and personalities of Isabella Blow and Alexander McQueen, who helped to inspire some of the events in this book, although this is not their story. They burned so brightly and were extinguished far too soon.

  This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  Version 1.0

  Epub ISBN 9781446492970

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  Published by Arrow Books 2011

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  Copyright © Lulu Taylor 2011

  Lulu Taylor has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  First published in Great Britain in 2011 by

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  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

  ISBN 978-0-099-55045-7